Director Ted Nicolau and writers Jackson Barr and David Pabian do not touch on much new ground in Subspecies. That’s not always a bad thing. If you a going to retread well-worn horror ground, you need to tell a good story and tell it well. Subspecies is a prime example of this.
Jenn wakes upon the beach after surviving a shipwreck. The only other survivor has fatal injuries and passes before she can save him. She is alone on a deserted island and the only signs of life she can find are evidence of her deadly circumstances—a molded cooler, a bag with expired medicine, and rotted camping equipment. The island is not hospitable, but Jenn refuses to give up. Then night falls and everything changes.
The App is an Italian sci-fi/drama/romance/thriller hybrid from writer/director Elisa Fuksas. The title of the film is not a metaphor or some grand symbolic play; it is the substance of the film. Fuksas commits to a story about a new kind of dating app and her vision is quite fascinating.
The Silenced is a South Korean horror film inspired by the Japanese control of Korea during World War II. Shizuko (really Joo-ran) is forced into a boarding school for unwell teenage girls in Seoul by her father and stepmother as they leave for Tokyo in 1938. The headmistress promises to help Shizuko recover from Tuberculosis through a strict regimen of injections, vitamins, herbs, diet, exercise, and proper Japanese education. Unfortunately, Shizuko’s assigned Japanese name is the same as a popular student who recently left without warning, and she must carry the burden of everyone’s anger and disappointment at the school’s strict regulations and silence on anything not promoted as a proper way of life by the Imperialist government.
